When did you last drive straight over the railroad on Cranberry Hole Road? For anyone headed to Devon, Lazy Point or the bay side of Napeague, the answer is July 2023. That month the Long Island Rail Road and the State Department of Transportation closed the 1895 timber bridge to cars, bikes and people on foot after an inspection. Two months earlier, holes had opened in the deck. The bridge was patched and reopened briefly before it shut for good.
The bridge itself is set to come down this fall. The detour stays. Demolition is the first step of a rebuild that runs on a contract ending in July 2028, and the bridge that replaces this one is being designed for loads and a rail future the old timber span was never asked to carry.
Demolition Starts the Clock
The latest public timetable comes from 27east's September 17 report. Demolition is expected this fall, and design and construction of the replacement are expected to begin in January 2027. Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni told the paper the contract began in June and runs to July 2028, the date by which the work must be done.
"The last possible date is July of 2028. Hopefully, they do it earlier." Assemblyman Tommy John Schiavoni, speaking to 27east
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's announcement gives the same frame: design finished in January 2027, demolition late in 2026, the project complete by July 2028. The design-build contractor is RCC/GCCOM A Joint Venture LLC.
As of early October, no published report confirms that demolition has started, and no notice ties a Montauk Branch service change or a Montauk Highway lane closure to the work. If crews show up at the west end of Cranberry Hole Road in the coming weeks, the local papers should report the first concrete schedule details.
How the Date Kept Moving
The bridge has been closed for more than three years. Most of that time went to deciding who would fix it, and then to fitting a rebuild into a capital program. The sequence:
- May to July 2023. Holes open in the deck, a short repair and reopening follow, then the bridge closes after inspection.
- The ownership question. East Hampton Town and the MTA each pointed to the other as the party responsible for repair. The MTA was eventually found responsible.
- July 2025. Schiavoni tells the Amagansett Citizens Advisory Committee that the bridge is in the MTA's five-year capital plan. "Your bridge is now at the top of the list," he said, "but the pace is glacial." At that meeting he said MTA officials had described a nine-month repair, at a cost he put between $20 million and $25 million.
- April 2026. Proposals had closed on March 13. An MTA spokesperson tells The East Hampton Star that a contractor would be chosen by September and work would begin in March 2027. The solicitation capped construction at 780 calendar days.
- June 2026. The award is announced. Cranberry Hole is bundled with the Sagg Road bridge in Sagaponack and the River Avenue bridge in Eastport, under a $51 million budget.
- September 2026. The schedule now has two stages, with demolition this fall and replacement work from January 2027.
The nine-month figure from summer 2025 matters most for planning a year ahead. It was a repair estimate given before a design-build contractor existed. The outer limit is now the July 2028 contract date.
A Bridge Built for the Traffic That Broke the Old One
The old bridge carried a posted limit of 10,000 pounds, and the Star reported that drivers often ignored it, which contributed to the decay. The MTA likewise blamed large, overweight vehicles crossing against posted limits for further damaging the timber.
The replacement will carry a 25-ton weight limit. Ten thousand pounds is five tons, so the new rating is five times the limit the old span was supposed to enforce. The trucks that wore down the 1895 structure will be legal on its successor.
The height stays the same, and that is a deliberate choice. Schiavoni said part of the delay came from the LIRR seeking a variance from a federal railroad agency, because federal standards call for a taller bridge than the one planned. "If they raised the bridge another 10 feet or eight feet or whatever, it's going to look a lot different than it does now," he told 27east. The variance keeps the bridge at its current height. The LIRR also plans to make the span wide enough for two tracks, though only the existing single track will run beneath it for now. The current span is 131 feet, resting on concrete abutments and a timber frame.
Beyond the bridge itself, the MTA's scope includes retaining walls, milling and repaving of the approaches, curbs and sidewalks, and a new drainage system with leaching basins. The bid for all three East End bridges came in at $36.6 million, below the $51 million budget.
The Fourth Fall of the Long Way
When the bridge closed, the town sent motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to Abram's Landing Road or Napeague Meadow Road to reach Cranberry Hole Road and Lazy Point. In 2023, the town highway superintendent told 27east there was "not a lot of traffic" on those alternate routes.
That view did not hold up over time. By September 2024, Abram's Landing Road residents were reporting extra traffic and congestion, along with safety concerns at the intersection by the Amagansett train station, which they already considered dangerous. Vickie Littman of Vickie's Veggies said customers had complained about the closure, and her petition cited slowed travel, congestion and emergency response times.
The Star described Cranberry Hole Road as the easiest way from points west to Lazy Point and Promised Land. It is the only through-road serving the residential and recreational areas north of Montauk Highway along a stretch of more than four miles. Town Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said in January 2025 that the closure had disrupted daily commutes and slowed emergency access. She noted that a fire in Napeague State Park would force departments onto a longer route. Councilman Tom Flight, who is also a first responder, has pointed to the loss of an alternate route from Montauk to medical facilities in East Hampton and Southampton.
The quiet has its supporters. 27east reported that some people in the Cranberry Hole area welcomed the drop in through-traffic, while most it heard from were frustrated with the open-ended timeline. At the July 2025 advisory committee meeting, residents of Devon, Lazy Point and parts of Napeague called for a temporary bridge. Others at the meeting worried that a temporary crossing could draw its own neighborhood opposition or push back the permanent fix.
Where the Detour Still Gets You This Fall
Everything on the bay side remains open. Lazy Point is a small Napeague settlement of about 50 privately owned homes on land leased from the East Hampton Town Trustees, and it has both year-round and seasonal residents. For an October weekend, these are the routes and places the current detours still reach:
| Destination | What it offers | Fall note |
|---|---|---|
| Promised Land/Napeague Loop, from Lazy Point Road | 1.8-mile route, leashed dogs allowed | Listed by the Amagansett Chamber |
| Napeague State Park Oceanfront Nature Loop | 1.4-mile loop | Open year-round, per the Chamber |
| Napeague State Park Beach Trail | 1.6-mile out-and-back along the harbor, wet firm sand and small rocks | Year-round trail |
| Fresh Pond on Napeague Bay | Crabbing and birdwatching, no lifeguards, kayak rack | Trustees-managed |
| Walking Dunes, Hither Hills State Park | Dune trail on the park's eastern edge, plus a Napeague Harbor kayak launch | Park open sunrise to sunset; camping through November 22, 2026 |
| Multi Aquaculture Systems, 429 Cranberry Hole Road | Seafood market, takeout, Promised Land Oysters | Hours not posted online; call ahead |
The Walking Dunes and the harbor launch are reached from the east by Napeague Harbor Road, about a mile west of the Hither Hills campground, so the bridge does not affect them. New York State Parks directs paddlers to park at the Walking Dunes and launch from the beach beside it. The western Cranberry Hole Road destinations are the ones that take longer to reach. Oysters, a bay walk and Lazy Point are all still a short drive away. The trip just starts at Abram's Landing Road or Napeague Meadow Road and will keep starting there through demolition, the January 2027 construction start and as far out as July 2028.
Long access disruptions like this one affect more than drive times, especially for properties reached mainly from one road. Heskell Advisors follows the Cranberry Hole Road schedule and other East End infrastructure projects closely, and can explain how a closure or reopening like this bears on a specific Devon, Lazy Point or Napeague property. Schedule a confidential market consultation.
